Hello! Welcome to the first conductor’s blog from the Melbourne Municipal Band. My name is Staci Cleveland, and I am the Associate Conductor of the MMB. The concert band is rehearsing for our Celtic Concerts which are coming up on February 16 & 17 at the Melbourne Auditorium. This is an exciting program which I know our audiences will really enjoy. Just to give you an idea of what you are going to hear, we’ll have a suite of music from Riverdance, Four Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold, some standard favorites like The Irish Washerwoman, Grainger’s Irish Tune from County Derry and a beautiful trombone feature arranged by one of our own members, Jim McCreary, called Loch Lamond. Our warm up entertainment will be a short concert from a local Celtic band called “Kindred Spirits.” They’ll kick off their performance at 6:45, and the main event will start at 7:30. Even the intermission of this show will be entertaining, as we have the (almost world famous) Sunshine Brass Quintet scheduled to play for you.
This concert is especially exciting to me because I will also be auditioning for the principal conductor’s position with the MMB. Our concerts over the next several months will feature guest conductors, all of whom will be vying for the position. The MMB’s Board of Trustees (along with the band) will make their decision about who will be the new conductor later this year. So come to the concerts this season and support the band as they interview and audition candidates.
I hope to see you in February!
